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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28798662">The Man from the Dreams</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/nitusdragon/pseuds/nitusdragon'>nitusdragon</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Chinese Actor RPF, 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Office, BJYX | Wang Yi Bo/Xiao Zhan | Sean is Real, Boys In Love, M/M, Rating May Change, Romance, Secret Crush, Slow Romance, Unpolished</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 09:15:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>17,124</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28798662</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/nitusdragon/pseuds/nitusdragon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When the man from Xiao Zhan's dreams enters his reality, before he could clear his mind, the dire consequences that follow, left him and mainly his heart, unprepared.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Wang Yi Bo/Xiao Zhan | Sean</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is my very first fanfic writing. Never before had I felt such strong inspiration to write, let alone RPF. But after watching the Untamed, reading MDZS, watching the Untamed BTS countless times, I am deeply in love with these two people and here I am to show my love for their love and to improve my writing abilities.</p><p>I appreciate any feedback you give to help me improve my writing. Thanks in advance!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>______________________________________________________</p>
</div><p>The digital clock on the bedside table shows 2:00 in bright red color. It is late in the night or early in the morning, Xiao Zhan is completely oblivious to how late it is. </p><p>He set out to go to sleep at around 11 PM like every night. But once in bed, he was hit with a sudden inspiration that made him jump out of the bed to his study room. He picked up his pencils and started sketching the face whose features flashed in his mind when he was in bed. The facial features of the image in his mind are not very clear. He is trying to sketch based on how he felt the electricity jolted his body when that image appeared in his mind.</p><p>It has been a long time since he felt so excited to draw something. He has been working as a designer and most of the time, in his work, he needs to compromise based on what the client wants rather than explore his creativity to the maximum extent. He has been so busy for the past few months, he barely gets to draw anything outside of work, as his work would take up most of his time and energy. </p><p>Tonight, though he was exhausted when he went to bed, the image that came into his mind when he was about to fall asleep, jolted him upright. And for the past 3 hours he is completely focused on his drawing. Though at this point he is drawing from his imagination the more distinct the features in his drawing become, the more sure he is that it is the same face that appeared in his dream. </p><p>When he finally finished with the intricate details of the drawing and shading, he let out a satisfied sigh looking at the picture. The face has sharp features, with a small face and high cheekbones. Though he couldn’t recollect if the face in his drawing belongs to a real person that he ever met, it still filled him with an inexplicable feeling of content.</p><p>He added his signature at the bottom of the page along with a heart symbol with a dot next to it. Feeling exhilarated with his small outside work project, he went to bed and had the best sleep that he had in a long time. His dreams revolved around the person from the drawing.</p><p>When he finally woke up at 7 AM with the alarm blaring loudly, he couldn’t recollect any of the dreams he had except that they are happy dreams and the feeling of euphoria hasn’t left him yet. Feeling content, he got out of bed to get ready to go to his work. Once he was ready for work, he strolled through his study room one last time to look at the gentle face from his drawing. Though he didn’t know why, he couldn’t help but wish that he could meet that face in real life.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>______________________________________________________</p>
</div><p>Over the next one week, every night when Xiao Zhan is about to fall asleep, a vague thought or image flashes into his mind which left him with the same feeling as the first night he dreamt of that face. Each night he spent most of the night trying to pour life in his dreams using his art. Surprisingly, no two images that flashed into his mind were the same, though there is one thing consistent in all those dreams. It is that Man. </p><p>Though he slept lesser and lesser each night by the end of the week, he is more excited and feeling alive than he felt in a long time. Over the weekend, he spent most of the time going through each of his sketches and realized that except for the first sketch which has the face of the man, the rest of them included two people in various settings. </p><p>One of them is with two people lying over a picnic blanket in a large grassy field and staring into the blue sky with white clouds.</p><p>Another one is both of them standing shoulder to shoulder on a beach staring at the sunset in the horizon, each with their hand on the other person’s waist.</p><p>And in one of them both the Man from the dream and Xiao Zhan were looking at each other with a hearty laugh on their faces.</p><p>A smile crept on Xiao Zhan’s face when a thought suddenly invaded his mind. “What if the two people in those pictures are the man from the dream and himself?”. He let out a chuckle thinking even if that man would become his friend, he wouldn’t spend such intimate moments with any man. Would he? He never really thought of being in such a romantic and intimate setting with another man. He doesn't remember the last time he laughed so heartily. Ever since he joined his current company which is a small startup company, as a designer, he had to work his ass off to meet the deadlines. With the small team he works with, he feels close to being with a family. But they can never fill in the large hole he feels in the heart. But looking at his drawing, Xiao Zhan couldn’t help but feel great content filling the hole in his heart. Xiao Zhan shook his head with a sigh, pushing away the silly thoughts about the Man and decided to spend less time staring at those drawings.<br/>
</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>______________________________________________________</p>
</div><p>Xiao Zhan woke up panting on Monday morning and was trying to pull his thoughts together to understand why he is panting and feeling so confused. He looked at the clock showing 5:20 AM. He focused on figuring out what woke him up and slowly realized that it was a dream. He realized that last night, he didn’t wake up with any thoughts/images jolting him when he was about to fall asleep. So, for the first time in a week, he fell asleep at his usual bedtime, and if not for this dream, he would’ve slept like a baby until 7 AM.</p><p>The dream. When he could finally recollect what happened in the dream, he understood why he woke up panting and sweating from it. </p><p>In the dream, he kissed. He kissed the Man.</p><p>HE KISSED A MAN.</p><p>After the initial shock of kissing a man wore off, Xiao Zhan started going through the dream in his mind vividly. Once both his body and mind was taken over into the dream state, he could feel the Man’s kiss and how his mind completely blanked out and his entire body responded to his kiss and to him. Xiao Zhan took several deep breaths to calm his mind and when he finally got ready to go back to sleep, he hoped that the dream would continue once he fell asleep. </p><p>And when he woke up next after a restless sleep, to a blaring alarm, he couldn’t help but be disappointed. There was no dream, no kiss and no Man.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>______________________________________________________</p>
</div><p>Over the next week, he noticed that he is no longer dreaming about the Man which left him feeling frustrated. He decided to use his own imagination for his drawings and started making drawings of them being together. Together in love. All of his drawings showcase the two inseparable men deeply in love with each other. Xiao Zhan has also started sketching out Manga with both of them as the main characters with silly, cheesy conversations between them. </p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>______________________________________________________</p>
</div><p>On Thursday, by the time Xiao Zhan arrived at work, he was already exhausted. He had been drawing for his new Manga most of the night. Though he is exhausted due to lack of sleep, he still felt content and much happier than before.</p><p>When he reached his desk and put his bag down, Zhuocheng was the first to greet him.</p><p>“Did you just roll out of the bed?”</p><p>Xiao Zhan rolled his eyes and said, “Something like that”.</p><p>Zhuocheng pulled his chair closer to Xiao Zhan and told him in a low voice, “Guess what? Madam Yu has invited everyone for a staff meeting for this morning. I haven’t seen her involved in our work affairs ever since I joined here. So there must be some big news.”</p><p>“Maybe we are getting new clients?”</p><p>“Feng Mian used to announce such news. Do you think it’s about the merger we keep hearing about?”</p><p>“Mn. I guess we’ll know in an hour.”</p><p>“By the way, what happened to you? You really look like shit. Are you not getting enough sleep?”</p><p>“I am fine A-Cheng. I guess I could use more sleep”.</p><p>Just then Xuan Lu walked to her desk which is right next to Xiao Zhan’s and announced, “I want to eat Hot pot today. Who is joining me?”</p><p>Zhuocheng raised his hand and jumped up from his chair to show he is more than ready. Xuan Lu laughed gently and asked, “A-Zhan, what about you?”</p><p>“Of Course Jiejie, count me in”.</p><p>Xiao Zhan is very close to Xuan Lu. She is gentle and sweet with everyone. Zhuocheng and Xiao Zhan always felt very protective of her and never said “No” to her.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>______________________________________________________</p>
</div><p>That evening, Xiao Zhan went to eat Hot pot with his friends Xuan Lu, Zhongcheng and Yubin. None of them were in a good mood. </p><p>Xuan Lu tried to cheer them up, “At least we will all still be together, in the new office.”</p><p>Yubin chimed in, “Yea, and the rest of the gang will get severance, so they don’t have to worry too much. They can definitely find a good job elsewhere.”</p><p>Yubin joined them late at the meeting where Madam Yu has announced that a big company called Gusu Lan Ltd, has acquired their startup company and they would be announcing it officially on next Monday. Everyone at the meeting went still when she announced that only the design team along with all of their clients would be merged with Gusu Lan. And the rest would have to start looking for a new job.</p><p>Though his closest friends will still be with him after the merger, Xiao Zhan couldn’t help but feel sad as the rest of their friends and co-workers that they have been working with for the past one year will no longer be with them. In the meeting Madam Yu has also announced that before the merger Feng Mian is taking his retirement. So it will just be Xiao Zhan, Xuan Lu, Zhuocheng and Yubin who would be moving to the new company. </p><p>Starting from next week, few employees from Gusu Lan would be working alongside them to set the future direction for their team and to take over their projects and clients.</p><p>Zhuocheng, in his usual sarcastic tone said, “I am more worried about that Gusu Lan marketing team we need to work with. I hope we can get along with them.”</p><p>Xiao Zhan laughed, “We have to get along with them. It’s not an option. Don’t worry too much. They will be just like our own folks. It’ll take some time to get used to things, it's no different from starting a new job in a company.”</p><p>“Zhan Zhan, the forever optimistic.” Yubin poked him on his arm.</p><p>“Yep, that’s my A-Zhan”, Xuan Lu said with the most genuine and kind smile.</p><p>Zhuocheng, rolled his eyes.</p><p>By the end of the meal, everyone’s mood got a little better. They decided to stick with each other no matter how things would turn on with the Gusu Lan team.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>______________________________________________________</p>
</div><p>That weekend, Xiao Zhan switched off his phone and spent the whole two days working on his Manga, taking short breaks only when necessary. By Sunday evening, he felt completely drained but utterly satisfied. He felt a strong affinity to the character of the Man from his dream and the interactions between them felt more and more real. </p><p>Even the story plots with arguments between the two characters felt very natural and made Xiao Zhan smile throughout. He couldn’t explain the affinity he felt towards this Man from his dream.</p><p>He had a light dinner and crashed in bed and slept peacefully till the alarm woke him up the next morning.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>______________________________________________________</p>
</div><p>Monday morning, Xiao Zhan dressed more carefully than he usually does for work. He wants to give a good first impression to the Gusu Lan team that their design team is capable and self-sufficient.<br/>
He is the first to arrive at work and checked all of their four desks to ensure they are not too cluttered. Except Yubin’s everyone’s is immaculate. With a small head shake, he quickly cleared the trash from Yubin’s desk and organized his papers.</p><p>Xuan Lu and Zhuocheng walked while he was still clearing Yubin’s desk. </p><p>Xuan Lu said, “Oh I was hoping to arrive early so that I could do that A-Zhan. But this A-Cheng needed a ride and I realized just today that he takes forever to get ready.” and she ducked down to dodge the plush animal toy Zhuocheng threw at her.</p><p>After half an hour, when Yubin walked in leisurely to his desk, he made an exaggerated movement with a loud shriek, holding his chest and slowly turned around to look at his amused friends and said, “Where did my desk go? Did they kick me out as well?”</p><p>“Stop being a drama queen, Yubin. A-Zhan cleaned up your desk, we also discovered A-Cheng’s favorite snacks that went missing a while ago”. </p><p>Yubin looked at Xuan Lu and said, “What, you guys found my new year present for you? That is not fair. I was hoping to surprise you guys.”</p><p>Xuan Lu and Xiao Zhan laughed at Yubin, while Zhuocheng rolled his eyes.</p><p>Just then a group of people led by their front desk receptionist, walked by the corridor towards their conference room.</p><p>Yubin, without even trying to suppress his rude curiosity, got up from his chair and gawked at them. The moment they entered the conference room, he hurried over to Xiao Zhan and said, “Zhan Zhan, they look like college students. I hope we don’t have to babysit them.”</p><p>“Yubin, stop being rude. Keep your mouth in check until we get to know them better.”<br/>
“They do look pretty young.” Zhuocheng chimed in. “Thinking about handing over all those hard earned clients and projects to a bunch of teenagers doesn’t sound scary at all.”</p><p>Just then Feng Mian’s office door opened and he along with Madam Yu walked someone over to the conference room. Just before Feng Mian entered the conference room, he waved over to Xiao Zhan asking him to come over.</p><p>Xiao Zhan jogged over to the conference room and Feng Mian closed the door behind them.</p><p>“How come they didn’t call us all in?” Zhuocheng exclaimed.</p><p>“They must know your reputation already and didn’t want to scare those little kids away.” Yubin teased Zhuocheng and dodged quickly when a heavy book flew his way.</p><p>“Shut up!” </p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>______________________________________________________</p>
</div><p>When Xiao Zhan entered the room, Madam Yu introduced him to the person who he saw walked in from Feng Mian’s office. “A-Zhan, this is Mr. Liu. Mr Liu, this is Xiao Zhan, the senior member of the 4 person design team that would be transitioned over to Gusu Lan”. </p><p>Mr Liu, gave a kind smile and stepped forward stretching his hand to Xiao Zhan, “Hello Xiao Zhan. Please call me Haikuan. As part of the acquisition, we have decided to keep this office. We’ll just rename it to Gusu Lan. We have been looking into branching out our office facilities from headquarters and we really loved this cozy place, we can have our creative teams work from this office.” </p><p>Hearing that, Xiao Zhan smiled and said, “That sounds great. We really love this place too. And glad to hear we can continue working from here.”</p><p>Haikuan turned to the three people sitting and introduced them to Xiao Zhan. “This is Fan Xing, Ji Li and Guo Cheng. They are part of the marketing team that will be working closely with you guys. The Marketing manager is Wang Yibo, he handles multiple teams but he is in the process of transitioning the other managers so that he could focus on our new venture as we have high hopes for that venture. He is busy with some presentations today so couldn’t come over, but he will be here tomorrow. For the first couple of weeks he may have to shuffle his time with other projects as well, but once the transitioning is over, he’ll be here most of the time.”</p><p>Xiao Zhan shook hands with the three excited faces and Madam Yu gestured to the front desk receptionist to show them to their seats.  </p><p>Once they left, Haikuan continued, “I have already talked to Madam Yu and Feng Mian. Since this is Feng Mian’s last week, we were hoping you could step into his shoes and lead the design team. Yibo is an efficient manager but he is not very familiar with the designing. So I hope you both have a happy collaboration.”</p><p>Xiao Zhan slightly bowed, and said, “I will definitely do my best to help out whatever the marketing team needs.”</p><p>Feng Mian patted Xiao Zhan’s back and said to Haikuan, “You don’t need to worry about Xiao Zhan. If anyone could..., you know, do this..., you know…, it will be him.”</p><p>Xiao Zhan was confused and looked at Feng Mian expecting him to spill the details. But to his disappointment Feng Mian didn’t elaborate further. Haikuan also simply nodded his head.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>______________________________________________________</p>
</div><p>Xiao Zhan walked Haikuan over to his teammates and introduced them. Haikuan also gestured to the three marketing team members to cover over and introduced both the teams to each other. Once all the introductions were over, Haikuan announced Xiao Zhan’s promotion to the team. Xuan Lu, Yubin and Zhuocheng clapped their hands beaming widely. </p><p>Haikuan turned to Fan Xing, Ji Li and Guo Cheng and told them that Yibo would join them here tomorrow and with a warning look that said, “You guys better behave yourself”, he waved to everyone and left.</p><p>Right after Haikuan left, Yubin walked over and said loudly, “Wow, he seems intense.”</p><p>Ji Li and Guo Cheng looked at each other with a mysterious smile. Ji Li then turned to Yibo and said, “If you think Haikuan is intense, you wait until you meet our Boss Man Yibo.”</p><p>“Why, Is he scary?” Yubin asked them. By then out of curiosity, Zhuocheng also joined him.</p><p>Guo Cheng said, “Scary? That’s an understatement.”</p><p>Fan Xing smacked at Guo Cheng’s arm and turned to Yubin, “He is not scary. He is a little strict and not very talkative. So he comes out as a bit intense. But he is great at his job though he is very young.”</p><p>Xuan Lu joined them and said, “Enough talking about someone who isn’t present here. Let’s talk about A-Zhan’s promotion. We should all celebrate.”</p><p>Xiao Zhan, who was quietly listening to all of their conversation turned to Xuan Lu and said, “Jie Jie, why don’t you just say you want to eat hotpot again?”</p><p>Yubin, “Yep, the only difference is this time Zhan Zhan would pay for everyone.”</p><p>Ji Li joined them and said, “Well, you didn’t leave us much choice. How can we say no if you insist like that.”</p><p>Yubin let out a loud whistle and put his arm around Ji Li’s shoulder and said, “Whoo, I like that spirit. We are going to get along really well.”</p><p>Xiao Zhan said, “I am happy to take you guys, but do you want to wait until your manager Mr.Wang Yibo also joins us?”<br/>
Both Ji Li and Guo Cheng looked stunned. Fan Xing stepped forward and said, “That may not be a great idea. It may take our manager sometime to warm up to new people.”</p><p>Yubin smiled and said, “It’s ok Zhan Zhan, we can invite him over next time. For today, let’s all go this evening to celebrate your promotion.”</p><p>Xiao Zhan smiled and agreed. Even after he got back to his work, he couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling towards Yibo that started since Haikuan’s comments in the conference room. He let out a sign and hoped everything would go smoothly and forced his mind to focus on the work.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>______________________________________________________</p>
</div><p>That evening, after he had hotpot with his friends and the new colleagues, Xiao Zhan felt happy that they could all get along so well so quickly. Something in his mind warned him it wouldn’t be so easy with their boss though.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>______________________________________________________</p>
</div><p>Next morning, when Xiao Zhan came to work, the others, including Yubin, were already there. He looked at Yubin in mock surprise. Yubin swat at him, winked and said he is too excited to meet their new marketing manager.</p><p>Xiao Zhan let out a laugh and slid into his chair and soon got immersed in his work. After sometime a deep voice startled him and with a dazed look, he turned to see the owner of that voice. </p><p>A tall handsome man with small eyes and high cheeks with a barely noticeable smile, stretched his hand and said, “Good morning, I am Wang Yibo. You must be Xiao Zhan.”</p><p>Xiao Zhan sat in stunned silence looking at the beautiful man. After a few seconds he slightly recovered and realized that he was staring at the man with an open mouth and immediately shut his mouth. He got up and without taking his eye off the man, silently shook his hand, and tried to calm his erratic pulse. How could this even be possible? He had never met this man before, yet he knew him very intimately. </p><p>Because he is the Man from his dreams. </p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>______________________________________________________</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fate has brought Wang Yibo from the dreams into Xiao Zhan's world! And the same fate would do everything in its power to bring them closer.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>______________________________________________________</p>
</div><p>Xiao Zhan got up from his seat to shake Yibo’s hand and felt a jolt the same as when the man appeared for the first time in his dream. He saw a frown appear on Yibo’s face and tried to regain his composure and smiled gently. </p><p>“Yes, I am Xiao Zhan. It’s nice meeting you Mr.Wang”. He was glad to see a small smile crept up on Yibo’s face and relaxed a bit hoping his stunned silence and staring didn’t offend him.</p><p>“Please call me Yibo. We’ll be working closely with each other. I talked to Madam Yu and we’ll rearrange our seats for easier collaboration. I hope you have time this week. I would like to catch up on your existing projects before we get started on our new venture next week.”</p><p>Xiao Zhan just nodded his head impressed with Yibo’s professionalism and confidence while talking. </p><p>Once Yibo left his desk, Xiao Zhan sat down and quickly opened the pictures in his phone gallery. He opened the images of the sketches he drew and looked at the close up of the face of the man from his dreams. And his uncanny resemblance to Yibo shocked him.</p><p>Xiao Zhan quickly turned off the display of his phone, when he saw from the corner of his eyes Yubin walking over to his desk. “He seems like an ok dude, may be a little stiff, but doesn’t seem too scary”.</p><p>Ji Li stood up at his desk and whispered loudly, “Yet. Wait until you start working with him. He is like a monster waiting under that handsome face.”</p><p>Xiao Zhan thought he should put extra efforts into pushing all of the images from his sketches with the man out of his head. Otherwise, there is no way he can look the man in the eyes and talk to him about work with a straight face.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>______________________________________________________</p>
</div><p>Yibo walked over to his chair in the conference room that he was using as his temporary workplace, and sat down with a small sigh. He hates working with new people. His own team still thinks he is hard to work with, but Yibo doesn’t really care about their perception of him. He is good at what he does and he knows how to get things done. He doesn’t care about what other people think of him as long as they can get the work done.</p><p>He was dreading while coming to this new office this morning. He voluntarily went to introduce himself, so that he can leave the conversation on his own terms in case the new team lead turns out to be a chatterbox. But to his surprise, that man seems just as  quiet. His face looked gentle and kind except for that rude staring. When he saw the man finally smiled, his entire body seemed relaxed and that face became even more gentle, if that is even possible. His entire body jolted with some kind of energy when Xiao Zhan shook his hand, and looking at the expression on his face, it seemed the experience was mutual. He took a deep breath and decided to shift his focus to work.</p><p>The rest of the day went in a blur for Yibo. He prepared the new seating plan for the design and marketing teams and for the creative writers’ team that would join them next week. He liked the new office. It is small and cozy unlike the maze he is used to at the headquarters. But this also means he needs to sit along with others.  He would definitely miss his personal office at the headquarters.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>______________________________________________________</p>
</div><p>By the time, Xiao Zhan came to work the next day, the seating arrangement had completely changed. He strolled around to see who sits where. He was glad to see that all his team still sits close to each other. He sits between Yubin and Xuan Lu, Zhuocheng sits next to jie jie. On the open side of his desk, he saw empty desks with names he couldn’t recognize. Based on the sign hung from the ceiling he guessed it’s for the creative writers that would join them next week.  On the opposite side sits the marketing team. Yibo’s desk is right opposite his and he was glad to see the partition blocking them. </p><p>For the rest of the week, Xiao Zhan had countless meetings with Yibo going over their current projects and clients and discussed the roadmap. Though he is still struggling to look Yibo in the eyes for more than a few seconds, he tried his best to remain professional during their collaboration. At least he didn’t have to see him outside work. </p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>______________________________________________________</p>
</div><p>Saturday afternoon, Yubin parked the car outside Xiao Zhan’s apartment to pick him up for Feng Mian’s farewell party. Xiao Zhan was already waiting for him outside and hopped into the car soon after. </p><p>“I would’ve either called or come up for you. You didn’t have to wait out here Zhan Zhan”.</p><p>“It’s ok. You are already doing me a favor by picking me up. Didn’t want to make you wait”.</p><p>“Zhan Zhan, you are too good for your own good”. Yubin slightly shook his head and started the car.</p><p>Xiao Zhan felt uncomfortable with Yubin’s words. The real reason he didn’t want Yubin to come up to his flat is because he didn’t want him to snoop into his study which is full of his Manga pictures of the man, that looks like Yibo’s replica. If he didn’t have to leave his car at the mechanic’s he wouldn’t have to trouble Yubin for the ride.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
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</div><p>Wang Yibo closed the door behind him and walked into the bathroom. He removed his t-shirt that is now completely covered in sweat after his run and started wiping his sweat off. His runs usually leave him exhilarated after having a stressful day at work. They were a great way to clear his head and also to plan for his next day’s work. But today’s run didn’t do much to relieve his stress, instead he is more frustrated with his cluttered mind.</p><p>For the past few days, subconsciously he couldn’t help but think about Xiao Zhan even when he is alone. They have been working closely for almost a week now, though their interactions are mostly related to work and they both maintain a good professional attitude, he wondered about the restless energy he felt when around Xiao Zhan. He was really impressed by Xiao Zhan’s designs and how he keeps his work well organized. He is also respectful of others feelings which Yibo knows is one of his own shortcomings. Unlike the rest of his team, Xiao Zhan didn’t seem to be intimidated by him, yet, he has never seen Xiao Zhan look him in the eyes for more than a few seconds. He is still not very familiar with him, so he wasn’t sure if that was his personality, but he definitely wanted to learn more about him.</p><p>Over the past week, they talked about how Xiao Zhan can delegate the current projects to his teammates and join Yibo on the new venture starting from next week. Yibo let out a sigh thinking of what that means. “More time working closely with Xiao Zhan.”</p><p>Though they both sit right across from each other, Yibo is glad for the partition between them. The occasional banter among the design team guys is already enough of a distraction for Yibo.</p><p>Today for the first time, he would be meeting Xiao Zhan outside of work, though it still includes the same people from work. At least Haikuan would be there, so he won’t have to worry about mingling with the others.</p><p>After taking a long hot shower, Yibo got dressed and set out for Feng Mian’s party.</p>
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</div><p>By the time Xiao Zhan and Yubin walked into Feng Mian and Madam Yu’s apartment, Xuan Lu and Zhuocheng were keeping themselves busy by adding silly decorations to the living room. Madam Yu opened her arms to give a tight hug to both Xiao Zhan and Yubin.</p><p>“It’s so good to see you boys outside of work. Those two have already started ripping my house apart”. Madam Yu turned towards Xuan Lu, “Lulu, who do you think will clean up the house if you guys hang all those things around?” </p><p>“Don ‘t worry, Madam Yu. We’ll come by tomorrow and spotclean the house.”, Xuan Lu said in a reassuring tone.</p><p>“Speak for yourself!”, Zhuocheng said reluctantly. </p><p>Yubin picked up some of the decorations that Xuan Lu brought and joined them. </p><p>Xiao Zhan said, “If Jiejie promised to get it done then it will be done. Your house is in safe hands Madam Yu. Please don’t worry. I guess Feng Mian is in the kitchen? I will go see if he needs any help.”</p><p>With a slight bow to Madam Yu, he handed over the present he brought, stepped into the kitchen and took over the responsibility of making the cake.</p>
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</div><p>After a couple of hours, with all the preparations done, everyone gathered in the living room reminiscing their time together. </p><p>“What is your parting wish for all of us Boss?”, asked Yubin.</p><p>“Firstly, I am no longer your boss.”</p><p>Hearing that Yubin put a hand around Feng Mian’s shoulders, but withdrew after receiving a glare from everyone in the room.</p><p>“Now that your Madam Yu is more of a passive partner, we’ll have more time for ourselves. So we’ll be enjoying some time cruising around.”</p><p>“I hope the rest of you can get along well with the Gusu Lan folks and have a good time.”</p><p>He turned to Xiao Zhan, but without directly addressing him, said, “And I hope some of you would find love.”</p><p>Xiao Zhan’s eyes widened hearing that. </p><p>“Why not all of us find love?”, Yubin jumped in.</p><p>“You are a lost cause boy, I won’t waste my wishes on you.”</p><p>Everyone’s laughter was interrupted by the door bell. Yubin opened the door to welcome Ji Li, Fan Xing and Guo Cheng.</p><p>Zhuicheng helped Madam Yu to put away the drinks the guests brought while the newcomers made themselves at home.</p><p>Xiao Zhan suddenly realized that he totally forgot the marketing team also would join them. That means…</p>
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</div><p>Wang Yibo took a deep breath before he rang the doorbell to Feng Mian’s apartment. When the door opened after a few seconds, he nervously bit his lower lip and said, “Hi”.</p><p>Xiao Zhan opened the door wide to let Yibo in and said “Hi”.</p><p>“I hope I am not too late.”</p><p>“No, you beat Haikuan”, Xiao Zhan smiled politely.</p><p>Yibo’s breath hitched in his throat seeing the smiling face. He quickly turned away from Xiao Zhan but was confused not knowing what he was afraid of.</p><p>Soon after Haikuan also joined them. The dinner filled with Feng Mian sharing fun filled, embarrassing antics of his old team. Yibo’s curiosity piqued when he heard Xiao Zhan’s name.</p><p>“A-Zhan, when he gets drunk turns into a totally different person. And it doesn’t take much for him to get drunk. And this one time,...”</p><p>“I will bring the cake out.”, a thoroughly embarrassed Xiao Zhan ran into the kitchen rubbing his neck.</p><p>Yibo’s eyes trailed Xiao Zhan and saw his ears turning red and let out a small laugh that caught everyone’s attention. He lowered his head trying to act casual.</p><p>Feng Mian looked at Yibo with a knowing smile, while a surprised Haikuan eyed him with raised brows.</p><p>Yubin brought drinks for everyone and challenged Xiao Zhan, “Zhan Zhan, you have to prove Feng Mian wrong today. Your tolerance should have increased by now, right? You can down at least two drinks now. Can’t you?”</p><p>Everyone laughed at Xiao Zhan’s embarrassment, while Zhuocheng joined Yubin in the bet. “I think now he can finish his first drink before his cheeks turn red”.</p><p>Yibo tried to suppress his amusement but couldn’t take his eyes off Xiao Zhan, who at the moment was trying not to squirm in his seat. </p><p>Zhuocheng declared that for every drink Xiao Zhan takes, Yubin will take two. Yubin, who already downed 3 drinks readily agreed.</p><p>Xuan Lu tried to come to Xiao Zhan’s rescue, “If you both get drunk, how will you drive home?”</p><p>Haikuan chimed in and offered, “Don’t worry, Yibo and I are staying sober. We’ll make sure you all get home safely.”</p>
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</div><p>To Yibo’s dismay, the next couple hours ended up being the noisiest as more and more alcohol flowed in and everyone’s banter turned louder and louder. Haikuan had to interfere several times to ensure the marketing trio won’t go overboard reminding them to stay respectful. When that didn’t work, he decided it’s time to take them home. </p><p>He greeted Feng Mian and Madam Yu and with Yibo’s help hauled the trio into his car.</p><p>Before Haikuan left, they also helped Xuan Lu haul Zhuocheng and Yubin into her car.</p><p>Lulu reassured Madam Yu that she would be back with the guys in the morning to help them clean up all the decorations and Yubin can pick up his car at that time.</p><p>After they left, Yibo asked Xiao Zhan gently, if he was ready to go. </p><p>Xiao Zhan offered his arm to Yibo with a help yourself look on his face.</p><p>Yibo pulled him up and held him around waist and held Xiao Zhan’s hand over his shoulder. They both bid farewell to their hosts.</p>
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</div><p>Once the elevator doors closed, Yibo tried to prop Xiao Zhan against the wall without actually letting him go. But Xiao Zhan immediately put his entire weight back on Yibo and when Yibo almost lost his balance under the weight, drunk Xiao Zhan started giggling.</p><p>Yibo, failing to suppress his amusement laughed loudly. </p><p>Xiao Zhan immediately fell silent and when Yibo looked at his face, Xiao Zhan asked him seriously, “Your laugh sounds out of the world. Is that why you don’t laugh often?”</p><p>Yibo laughed again and shook his head, “You sound so cheesy when you are drunk. Is that why you don’t drink often?”</p><p>“You also look more handsome when you laugh, but I already know it.”</p><p>“How do you know it?”</p><p>“I have seen it.” Xiao Zhan leaned closer to Yibo’s ear, “I have seen it many times before.”</p><p>Yibo asked in confusion, “Did we meet before the acquisition?”</p><p>When the elevator reached the parking level, Yibo opened the doors and had to literally drag giggling Xiao Zhan over to his car and sat him down in the passenger seat. He walked over to the other side and slid behind the wheel. He leaned over Xiao Zhan to pull his seat belt over and buckled him.</p><p>“You smell good too.” Xiao Zhan started another giggling fit.</p><p>“I hope you won’t remember any of this in the morning for your own good.” Yibo put the address Madam Yu has given him in the GPS and started driving.</p>
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</div><p>“I feel sick”, Xiao Zhan looked sick.</p><p>“Please don’t throw up in my car.” Yibo kept checking on Xiao Zhan every once in a while and anxiously prayed that he could hold up until they got home.</p><p>To Yibo’s relief they reached Xiao Zhan’s apartment without any accidents in the car. Soon after Yibo pulled him out of the car, Xiao Zhan tried to push him away, but Yibo held on more tightly. Before he knew what happened, Xiao Zhan started throwing up and dropped to his knees.</p><p>Yibo clenched his eyes shut and felt the wetness on his sleeve of the hand he used instinctively to hold up Xiao Zhan. He let out an exasperated sigh and slowly opened his eyes. He reached into his car to get the bottle of water and offered it to Xiao Zhan while rubbing his back with one hand.</p><p>Though he was irritated by his own state, he couldn’t help feeling sorry for the man who seems ready to curl up on the ground right there in the parking lot. </p><p>He helped Xiao Zhan drink some water and took out tissues from the car and cleaned Xiao Zhan’s face and his own sleeve.</p><p>At this point, he is thankful for not having to clean the car. He pulled Xiao Zhan, who now felt much heavier, up from the ground and took him inside.</p><p>Once they reached the flat, he leaned Xiao Zhan against the wall, and threw his own weight to hold him up in position to go through his pockets for keys. </p><p>While Yibo’s hands are rummaging his pockets, Xiao Zhan starts giggling again. </p><p>“Oh, would you just shut up!” exhausted Yibo snapped at him before he could stop himself.</p><p>Once he realized what he had done, he stopped in his tracks and slowly lifted his eyes to look up at Xiao Zhan’s face and immediately softened when he looked at the pouty mouth and widened eyes.</p><p>“Sorry, I need to find your keys.”, Yibo said in the softest voice he ever spoke.</p><p>“But it’s ticklish.”, the pout continued.</p><p>Yibo smiled and said, “I will be gentle.”</p><p>Xiao Zhan nodded his head and lifted up his arms to allow Yibo to continue his search.</p><p>Once Yibo found the keys, he opened the door, and after laying Xiao Zhan gently on the couch, he crashed next to him.</p><p>Before Yibo could relax completely, he felt the tug on his sleeve and looked at Xiao Zhan.</p><p>How can an adult be so cute and handsome at the same time? If it was someone else behaving this way, Yibo was sure, he would definitely be annoyed. But looking at Xiao Zhan’s sincere face, Yibo felt that this man could make him do whatever he wants.</p><p>“What now?”</p><p>“Are you still mad at me?”<br/>
Yibo suddenly felt a knot in his stomach. He couldn’t be pretending right? He looks too sincere for that. Why does he care if I am mad at him?</p><p>“No, I am not mad at you. I should get going. Do you need anything else?”</p><p>Xiao Zhan blinked his eyes a few times as if he was trying to wrap his head around something and lowered his eyes to look at the floor near his feet, sighed and shook his head.</p><p>Yibo asked softly, “Do you want to go to sleep?”</p><p>Xiao Zhan looked down at his own clothes and said with a pout, “My clothes are still dirty.”</p><p>“Show me where your clothes are”.</p><p>Xiao Zhan finally smiled and stretched his arms for Yibo to help him up. </p><p>“You know, you are such high maintenance.” Yibo shook his head gently and got up to help Xiao Zhan get cleaned up.</p><p>“Only for you, Yibo Ge”.</p><p>Yibo almost tripped over in shock, stopped abruptly and looked up into Xiao Zhan’s now contented face. No one has ever dared to use such endearing words with him. Even his closest friends know that he doesn’t like to show affection and respect it.</p><p>Not wanting to dwell too much on it or stay here for too long, Yibo quickly helped Xiao Zhan into the washroom, removed his shirt and quickly cleaned him up before his thoughts could take him into any dangerous territory. Fortunately he only needed a change of shirt. After he helped Xiao Zhan into bed and tucked him snugly under the blanket, Yibo went back to the bathroom to clean himself as well and used the hair dryer to dry his shirt.</p><p>Not wanting to disturb Xiao Zhan in case he is already asleep, Yibo decided to leave quietly. When he turned to check on Xiao Zhan one last time, he found the bed empty. With a panic he looked around and under the bed, but couldn’t find him anywhere. </p><p>When he entered the living room, he found light turned on in another room and quickly ran towards it. Once he entered the room, he let out a relieved sigh when he saw Xiao Zhan sitting at a drawing table, fast asleep with his head lying on the table. </p><p>Yibo gently pulled the hair back from Xiao Zhan’s eyes. With the light from the table lamp glistening over his face, Yibo had the sudden urge to lean over and kissed the man.</p><p>By the time Yibo realized his own thoughts, his face was dangerously close to Xiao Zhan’s face. He straightened himself quickly. When he gently lifted Xiao Zhan’s head to take him back to the bed, he found a paper stuck to Xiao Zhan’s cheek. Yibo realized that Xiao Zhan was here to draw before he fell asleep and admired his passion for the art. </p><p>He looked at the drawing under the light and smiled widely. It’s a partial drawing of Yibo holding drunk Xiao Zhan in the elevator. </p><p>Yibo picked up the paper and looked at it fondly. For the first time after entering the room, he looked around and saw how messy the room was. There are several drawings on various aisles and a huge pile of papers lying on a work table. He looked around the room to see if there were any other lights, found the switches on the wall and turned them all on. </p><p>When the room was filled with brightness, Yibo was shocked to see his own face on most of the drawings in the room. For a few seconds, he stood there quietly. The only thought in his mind was, “What does all this mean?”</p><p>He walked around the room looking at each drawing closely. Some of the drawings have both Xiao Zhan and himself on them in very intimate settings. He felt his head spinning and had to clutch it hard and take deep breaths to calm his racing pulse. He found that all the drawings are dated and once his mind could process any further, he realized that a lot of these drawings were dated before he met Xiao Zhan.  </p><p>In one drawing, they were sharing a kiss. Yibo felt his heart drop into his stomach. It looks so real. It feels so real.</p><p>“How is this possible? Did Xiao Zhan see him somewhere before? Did he develop romantic feelings towards him?” </p><p>He thought about their very first interactions and remembered Xiao Zhan’s stunned face when he looked at him. He started analyzing all of their interactions over the past week in his mind, where Xiao Zhan’s eyes barely meet his for more than a few seconds and the restless energy that seemed to pass between them every time they had to interact with each other. </p><p>He hesitated for a second in front of the pile of drawings on the work table. He doesn't like prying into other people’s business. But if he was on those drawings as well, he would like to know about it.</p><p>He started going through the papers which had more of the drawings of both of them but soon a frown started to spread on his face.  </p><p>Yibo looked up at Xiao Zhan as if he could wake up now to clear his confusion, but returned to the papers with a sigh. He sat down on a chair and started reading through the Manga and soon immersed into it. By the time he finished reading through it all, his heart felt warm with a sweet smile on his face.</p><p>“Zhan Ge…”, thought amused Yibo, “So, that’s what you like to be called.”</p><p>He smiled mischievously and returned all the papers to where they belong.</p><p>He carefully picked up Xiao Zhan in his arms and brought him over to his bed. He tucked him in and leaned closer to his face. This time he is well aware of all the emotions going through his heart and felt a strong pull towards the man sleeping like a baby.</p><p>He placed a gentle kiss on Xiao Zhan’s forehead and said in whisper, “Good night, Zhan Ge!”.</p>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I can't wait to create more chemistry between them, but I want it to naturally flow into the story. I hope it does feel natural. </p><p>As always, thank you all for your encouragement in advance, appreciate your feedback.</p><p>(And yes, in my universe, Yibo is strong enough to carry his Zhan Ge :-) )</p>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
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</div><p>“Why didn’t you pick up my calls yesterday?”, Yubin snapped at Xiao Zhan right after he arrived at work on Monday morning.</p><p>“I couldn’t find my phone. I might’ve left it at Feng Mian’s house.”</p><p>“We were there yesterday, cleaning up. I didn’t see your phone there.”</p><p>“Oh, then Jiejie may know.” Xiao Zhan turned towards Xuan Lu to ask her about his phone.</p><p>“Why would Lulu know about your phone?”</p><p>“Because she drove me home after the party, Genius”, Xiao Zhan rolled his eyes.</p><p>Hearing that they are talking about her, Xuan Lu turned and said, “I didn’t drive you home A-Zhan. I think Yibo did.”</p><p>Hearing that, Xiao Zhan’s heart skipped a beat. Yibo drove him home when he was drunk? Aaargh!!! He didn’t remember a thing he did or said. Did he make a fool of himself? He tried to calm down the panic rising in his throat. </p><p>Noticing his reaction, Xuan Lu placed her hand on his arm and smiled gently.</p><p>Oblivious to what was happening with Xiao Zhan, Yubin laughed loudly and said, “Yibo? Wow, are you sure he didn’t leave you in the parking lot man?”</p><p>Xiao Zhan shook his head and turned to his laptop to continue his work. He tried to recollect what happened on that night. All he could remember was waking up next morning from under a warm blanket with a dull headache. </p><p>His clothes.. Was he.. wearing the same clothes as the night before, when he woke up? He couldn’t exactly remember, but that made his heart beat the fastest it ever did. He had to rush to the washroom to hide his panic from his friends. He splashed water on his face to help him calm down.</p><p>By the time he returned to his desk, Haikuan was standing near his desk and was chatting with Yubin. The moment Xiao Zhan came, his attention turned to him and his expression suddenly changed. He asked in a worried tone, “Are you ok Xiao Zhan? You seem like you are having a bad morning.”</p><p>Xiao Zhan tried his best to hide his inner turmoil and with a forced smile, said, “I am good. Didn’t get a chance to down my green tea yet.”</p><p>Haikuan smiled and patted his back and then reached out into his pocket to pull out Xiao Zhan’s mobile phone.</p><p>Seeing his phone, Xiao Zhan’s spirits rose. He jumped up to take his phone and said, “Oh thank God, how did you get my phone? Did you drop me off that night? Did I drop it in your car?” Xiao Zhan was hoping beyond hope that it was Haikuan who dropped him that night rather than Yibo. </p><p>“Wow, seems like I made your day.” He laughed good naturedly. “Yibo gave me the phone and asked me to give it to you. He had to go to a business meeting today so he won’t be coming into the office.”</p><p>Xiao Zhan thanked Haikuan and sat back in his chair. He is not sure what he is more disappointed with. Is it the fact that Yibo was the one to drop him off at home in his drunken state or that he wouldn’t be coming to the office today?</p><p>Before Xiao Zhan could further ponder his confusing thoughts, Haikuan called out everyone for a meeting.</p>
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</div><p>When Xiao Zhan entered the conference room, he noticed the new faces sitting in the Creative Writers’ aisle. He guessed the current meeting would be to introduce them to everyone. He reached to an empty chair and was about to pull it back for him to sit in, another hand landed on his own at the same time. He quickly pulled his hand back from under the soft hand and turned to look at the hand’s owner. A beautiful woman was standing right next to him, a little too close to his liking and was smiling widely. He quickly bowed to her apologizing for the mishap and moved on to an empty seat next to Yubin on the other side of the conference table.  </p><p>The moment he sat in the chair, Yubin nudged his chair and raised his eyebrows smiling coyly. Xiao Zhan returned him a confused glare and turned to Haikuan when the meeting had started.</p><p>During the meeting, Haikuan introduced the Creative Writers team.  There are two men and a woman in the team. Haikuan introduced each of them. Cao Yuchen waved at everyone with an air of superiority, Zanjin Zhu bowed slightly and smiled sweetly at everyone and finally the woman that Xiao Zhan had the mishap with was Meng Ziyi. She had her eyes glued to Xiao Zhan while waving her hand with a broad smile on face. Yubin snickered next to him while Zhuocheng scoffed. Xiao Zhan ignored both of them.</p><p>Haikuan went ahead with the actual agenda of the meeting. “I have an announcement to make. Originally, we planned Yibo to be the one to make this announcement, but since he had to leave for an urgent client meeting, I am doing this in his place. The leadership in Gusu Lan has decided that we enter the Manga world. Since we didn’t have much experience with it, we looked for small startups with more experience in this area resulting in the acquisition of this team. Yibo would be managing this venture where we need the marketing team, design team and the creative writers team to work together on this concept to make it a reality. There were few high level concept ideas that the leadership has finalized. You guys can go through them and pick the one you think is the best. The folders in front of you contain the concept ideas, you can think about them and we’ll reconvene tomorrow to make a final decision once Yibo is back.”</p><p>Xiao Zhan was excited with the new direction that they would be moving towards. He asked Haikuan, “What about our current projects and clients? Who would handle them?”.</p><p>Haikuan responded, “We will slowly transition them over to our team at headquarters. They are pretty junior, so they need some training before they can take over completely. Xiao Zhan, if you can give me a training plan, I will arrange for those folks to come by this week for their training.” </p><p>Xiao Zhan nodded his agreement.</p><p>Haikuan proceeded, “We also decided that for better collaboration across teams, we are going to follow an open office seating arrangement.”</p><p>“The seating arrangement will be changed again?” Yubin exclaimed.</p><p>“Yes, I understand it is an inconvenience to change it twice in a week, but for the new Manga, for everyone to closely collaborate with each other, this will be very helpful.” Haikuan said with an apologetic smile.</p><p>“I wonder what Yibo would say to that.” Ji Li said, knowing his manager doesn't like sitting in the middle of a group of people.</p><p>“This is actually Yibo’s idea. He mentioned it to me yesterday, he also provided the new seating plan.” </p><p>Everyone went quiet with shock. Guo Cheng nudged Ji Li’s chair and said to him without trying to keep his voice low, “He must have chosen a corner seat for himself.”</p><p>Haikuan smiled but didn’t say anything to confirm or contradict what Guo Cheng has said. He continued to say, “When you come to work, just look for your new seat.”</p><p>Xiao Zhan paid very little attention to the rest of the conversation as they continued to mock Yibo in his absence. Once the meeting was over, he left the conference room and kept thinking about the Manga venture. Once he was back at his desk, he opened the folder, and went over the Manga concepts with his interest piqued at one particular concept.</p>
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</div><p>Next morning, when Xiao Zhan entered the office, he saw the new seating arrangement. There was a long semi circular desk filling half of their small office space. The inner side of the arc is for the four design team members to sit, while both the marketing and creative writers teams sit on the outer side. Xiao Zhan was impressed with the creative idea which enables them all to be able to talk to each other face to face without having to compromise their personal space.</p><p>Xiao Zhan saw Xuan Lu greet him cheerfully. She sits right next to him, with Zhuocheng to her other side, whereas Yubin sits on the other side of Xiao Zhan. He is glad to have his friends close to him.</p><p>Once he settled in his chair, Yubin excitedly poked him and said, “Guess, who is the lucky girl to face our grumpy Mr. Yibo all day long?”</p><p>A frown appeared on Xiao Zhan’s face thinking that Yibo would be sitting across a girl. But before he could think of it any further, Yibo answered his own question gleefully, “You, ofcourse.”</p><p>It took Xiao Zhan a few seconds to wrap his head around what Yubin had said, and once he realized, he slapped Yubin's arm playfully for calling him a girl. Even if Yibo’s desk is right across from his own, Xiao Zhan, for some reason, was sure that Yibo would barely look at him. So as long as he could keep his head down and mind his own job, it will make no difference that Yibo would be sitting right across from him. </p><p>As he thought of the devil, the devil entered the room himself. Yibo sat at his desk and greeted Xiao Zhan with a small nod. Xiao Zhan felt his cheeks warm up and he found himself flustered.</p><p>“I know someone who would want to switch seats with Yibo.”, Yubin said loudly. Hearing that Xuan Lu laughed gently and Zhuicheng threw him a murdering look.</p><p>Before Xiao Zhan could ask him what Yubin meant, Meng Ziyi squealed from the other side of the desk and waved at Xiao Zhan. She greeted him and eagerly showed him where she would sit. While Xiao Zhan nodded at Meng Ziyi awkwardly, everyone in the room laughed, except for 2 people.</p>
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</div><p>Yibo has called for a meeting to finalize the Manga concept for their new venture. This time, Meng Ziyi was able to secure a place next to Xiao Zhan and leaned her body towards him so much that her shoulders brushed his every once in a while. Xiao Zhan felt extremely awkward, but decided to ignore her attempts in order to not humiliate her.</p><p>Yibo was standing at the head of the table, his face looking more irritable than usual. Haikuan joined him at the head of the table. “Based on the feedback from our consumer surveys and all of you, we have narrowed down our choice of concepts to two. Yibo will go over those concepts so that we can finalize one. I hope all of you can freely debate over which option we should go with, and commit fully to whichever option is finalized.”</p><p>Yibo started his slideshow on the projector. “The first concept is about love. How two people meet each other, fall in love, face the up and downs together and stay in love forever.” Hearing Yibo talk about love, Xiao Zhan squirmed in his chair. “The second concept is adventure. Two people going on adventures and fighting off the evil to maintain peace.”</p><p>Haikuan asked everyone in the room, “What do you all think?”</p><p>Meng Ziyi’s hand shot up first, “I think we should go with the concept of love. A love story between a man and woman can never go wrong. People always love those types of stories.”</p><p>Zhuocheng vigorously nodded his head.</p><p>Cao Yuchen shaking his head slightly, “It is a very common concept. What we need is something more exciting. I think the concept of adventure sounds a lot more fun. Two men go on adventures, fighting off unearthly beasts, it sounds pretty cool.”</p><p>“I agree with Yuchen, adventures sound more fun, we can explore more territories with it.” Yubin added his two cents.</p><p>Yibo turned his eyes to Xiao Zhan and asked, “What do you think Xiao Zhan?”</p><p>Xiao Zhan was quietly listening to everyone and was startled when he Yibo called him out. All the eyes in the room are on him now. He had been thinking about the concepts all of last night. When it was time to voice it out, he felt himself tremble not knowing how others would perceive it. Hearing his own name come out of Yibo made the tremble worse.</p><p>He took a deep breath and said, “Both love and adventure are very popular concepts, there is a good chance they will be well received by the readers. So why not combine them both?”</p><p>Yubin let out a whistle, but before he could say something, Meng Ziyi jumped in and said, “You mean two men go on adventures and meets a woman and one of them falls in love? I like that idea.”</p><p>Yubin quickly countered, “If we have three main characters, we will have to split the attention equally to all of them and won’t do justice to either of our main concepts.”</p><p>Xiao Zhan spoke up again, this time his voice is much lower but yet very steady. “I agree with Yubin. We don’t want to divide the attention between love and adventures in our story. Why not have them both between the same two people? Why does the adventure always have to be between just men and love always between a man and a woman?” He turned to Yibo, seeing his eyes glued on to him, he gulped and with eyes fixed on Yibo, continued to say, “If we chose to go with two male characters to go on adventures, why can’t the love blossom between them?”</p><p>Nobody spoke for a few seconds, the seconds stretched into minutes. Yibo looked intently at Xiao Zhan, nodded his head, and said in a soft voice, “I like that idea.”</p><p>Xiao Zhan finally let out a deep breath that he didn’t know he was holding. </p><p>Xuan Lu also voiced her opinion, “I like that idea as well. It also sends a message of equality to break outdated societal norms.” </p><p>Yubin said, “I guess, I am ok with it. Not sure how romantic the love story between the men can be.”</p><p>With his eyes still on Xiao Zhan, Yibo thought of all the drawings he saw in Xiao Zhan’s study and with a smirk said in a sultry manner, “Oh don’t worry about that, it can get very very romantic.”</p><p>Hearing that tone, Xiao Zhan’s breath hitched in his throat. He saw Yibo’s eyes still on him, suddenly felt his mouth dry, and involuntarily licked his lips. Yibo’s eyes darted towards the wet lips and back to Xiao Zhan’s eyes and he mimicked the same action with his own tongue.</p><p>Was he just imagining it or was Yibo talking to him when said that? Xiao Zhan, not realizing that he just licked his lips with his eyes glued to Yibo, suddenly felt the room too hot and suffocating when he noticed Yibo licking his lips. He had few drawings in his Manga with the man from his dream who looks like a perfect replica of Yibo, where the man’s mouth passionately devours his own. Xiao Zhan closed his eyes and tried to shake those images off his mind.</p><p>There was a lot of murmuring around the room after Yibo’s declaration. Haikuan gently cleared his throat and asked everyone, “If anyone feels strongly against this concept, please speak now. As I mentioned earlier, once we finalize the concept, I want everyone to fully commit to it.”</p><p>Other than Zhuocheng and Meng Ziyi, everyone eagerly agreed to go with that concept. Seeing that the majority has already agreed to it, Zhuocheng and Meng Ziyi have no choice but to go along with it.</p><p>Haikuan clapped his hands excitedly, and said, “Awesome. Now that we have the concept finalized, I will leave it up to Yibo to coordinate with you all to come up with the story line and a plan of action for the next steps.”</p><p>Everyone rose from their chairs and bowed slightly to each other before leaving. After everyone has left, Haikuan walked to Yibo, who was about to leave, placed his hand on Yibo’s shoulder and teased him, “Can you not be so obvious, brother?” Yibo looked at him genuinely confused as to what he was referring to. Haikuan shook his head with a gentle smile and left the room.</p>
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</div><p>Xiao Zhan’s heart continued to beat loudly even after he came back to his desk. He tried to push away the image of Yibo licking his lips out of his mind, but failed miserably. With a frustrated grunt he got off his chair and went into the kitchen to make himself some green tea.</p><p>While his thoughts are still all over the place, he felt a presence very closely behind him and before he could turn around, he heard a deep voice close to his ear.</p><p>“You are welcome, by the way.”</p><p>Smirking, Wang Yibo took a small step back. </p><p>Xiao Zhan turned around, looking confused. After a few seconds, he realized what Yibo was referring to and said apologetically, “Sorry, I should’ve thanked you properly. Thank you for giving me a ride after the party.”</p><p>Xiao Zhan paused and as if he just remembered something, blurted “Oh, and thank you for finding my phone.” </p><p>Wang Yibo folded his arms across his chest and with an expectant look on his face, slightly leaned forward, “And?”</p><p>Xiao Zhan was confused, thinking, what else is he missing?</p><p>“Sorry, I don’t remember anything else.”</p><p>Yibo looked disappointed, nodded his head and turned to leave.<br/>
“Wait, I would like to properly thank you for your help. Can I take you out for a meal?”</p><p>Yibo turned around with one of his rarest smiles, “I’d like that.”</p><p>He was about to leave but hesitated for a moment and turned to Xiao Zhan and said, “Maybe I should forget about my struggles with changing your clothes.”</p><p>Xiao Zhan utterly mortified looked at him with his eyes wide open. Seeing his face turn the deepest red color, Yibo laughed heartily and left.</p><p>Xiao Zhan’s embarrassment turned to something else. He never heard Yibo laugh like that. If this is the result of his embarrassment, he may not mind letting Yibo have an upper hand teasing him.</p><p>Before he can come out of his reverie, two pairs of footsteps halted next to him. </p><p>Ji Li put his arm around Xiao Zhan’s shoulders, and said excitedly, “What did you? I never heard him laugh like that.”</p><p>Yubin put his arm around Xiao Zhan’s next from the other side and said, “Nobody can resist Zhan Zhan’s charm. What did you do anyway?”</p><p>Xiao Zhan smacked at both of their arms and after he got away from their grip, said, “Why are you two being so nosy?”</p><p>Ji Li and Yubin looked at each other and said at once, “Because…. it is a miracle!”. They both laughed and high fived.</p><p>Xiao Zhan decided to get away from there before they returned their focus on him.</p><p>When he got back to his desk, his eyes immediately darted in Yibo’s direction and met a pair of smiling eyes and he quickly looked away.</p><p>Yibo got off from his chair, and stretched his arm towards Xiao Zhan from across the table. Xiao Zhan looked up to see Yibo holding his phone in his hand and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. </p><p>Yibo responded with a lopsided smile, “For planning, what we just discussed.”</p><p>Xiao Zhan tilted his head slightly in confusion and when it hit him that Yibo was referring to his offer of taking him to a meal, he shyly picked his phone and added Yibo’s WeChat contact.</p><p>Right after Yibo retreated with a satisfied smile, his smile dropped when he saw Meng Ziyi mimicked what he just did.</p><p>Xiao Zhan smiled awkwardly and after throwing a quick glance at Yibo’s fuming face, he added Meng Ziyi also on his WeChat.</p>
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</div><p>Xiao Zhan has checked his phone for the hundredth time. He still didn’t get any messages from Yibo after he added him on WeChat. On the other hand he already received several messages from Meng Ziyi. He is still not in the mood to read the messages from her. He still remembers the look on Yibo’s face, when Meng Ziyi wanted to add him on WeChat. Does Yibo think it’s inappropriate? But why? Though Xiao Zhan feels it’s a bit annoying, Meng Ziyi hasn’t done anything to offend him. She has been friendly. A little too friends for his liking. But why would Yibo care about it?</p><p>Xuan Lu returned from the washroom and joined him at their table. They came to a local pub for drinks with Yubin and Zhuocheng, both out on the dance floor with Yubin dancing excitedly with someone he just met and Zhuocheng grudgingly accompanying him closely.</p><p>When Xuan Lu noticed Xiao Zhan's mood, she placed a hand on his arm, and asked, “What’s eating your mind, A-Zhan?”</p><p>Xiao Zha recovered from his daze and responded with a genuine smile, “Nothing Jie jie, I am fine.”</p><p>“So you are hiding things from your Jie jie now?”</p><p>“Nothing like that Jie jie. I am a little confused on how to deal with Meng Ziyi. She is a nice and friendly girl, but she gets a little too friendly.”</p><p>Xuan Lu smiled understandingly, and warned Xiao Zhan, “I know what you mean. She is like that only with you. And be careful what you say in front of A-Cheng about her.”</p><p>Hearing that Xiao Zhan felt like he was missing something important. “Why would A-Cheng care what I say about her?”</p><p>“A-Zhan!! Can you pay attention to the people around you, at least some times? I know it’s easier to stare ahead all the time, but turning your neck to look at your friends every once in a while won’t hurt you either.” Xuan Lu smiled teasingly.</p><p>Hearing that, Xiao Zhan choked on the drink and spilled it over himself, “What do you mean by that?”</p><p>Xuan Lu, not trying too hard to suppress her amusement, said, “It means whatever you want it to be.” If A-Zhan is not going to be forthcoming about his feelings, she won’t be the one to force it out of him. </p><p>Xiao Zhan realized that she won’t elaborate on her comment and wondered what she was referring to. It felt like she was implying something related to Yibo, but it can’t be. She wouldn’t know the storms he has to battle in his head when it comes to Yibo. Nobody would know about them. He then realized that she skipped to answer about A-Cheng.</p><p>“Jie jie, what were you saying about A-Cheng? Why would he be offended if I talk about Meng Ziyi?”</p><p>“A-Zhan, if you can’t figure it out yourself, I can’t tell you anything about it. It’s not my secret to talk about. All the secrets..”, she looked at him with raised eyebrow and continued, “including yours are safe with me.” </p><p>“What are you talking about? I don’t have any secrets.” Xiao Zhan didn’t want to give anything away. He thought, sadly, there is nothing to give away anyway.</p><p>Yubin and Zhuocheng returned just then, Yubin slid next to Xiao Zhan and asked, “What secrets are you guys talking about?”</p><p>He then turned to Xiao Zhan and said accusingly, “Zhan Zhan, are you keeping secrets from me?”</p><p>Xiao Zhan rolled his eyes and decided to ignore that question.</p><p>Taking hints of people not wanting to talk about something is not in Yubin’s nature. “Speaking of secrets, I don’t think it is actually a secret, but Zhan Zhan, are you going to talk about your admirer?”</p><p>This time both Xiao Zhan and Zhuocheng spilled the drink they were just sipping. </p><p>Xiao Zhan thought back to their encounter in the kitchen that morning and thought, is he referring to Yibo? But he didn’t understand why Zhuocheng would be upset about it. </p><p>“Seems like Meng Ziyi can’t take her eyes off you. You have my full support Zhan Zhan. I think you two will make a great pair.”</p><p>Xiao Zhan was startled by what Yubin had said and immediately laughed out loud. Once he recovered from his laughing fit, he turned to Yubin and said, “You think I would be interested in Meng Ziyi?” His tone came out as if that thought is an insult to him and immediately realized that it was too arrogant of him to say that. He didn’t mean it to come out that way. He was relieved that Yubin was not referring to Yibo, which would be a lot more awkward for Xiao Zhan to explain.</p><p>Yubin looked at him in disbelief and said, “Why not, What’s wrong with her?”<br/>
Zhuocheng chimed in for the first time they started this conversation and said, “There is nothing wrong with her.”</p><p>Xiao Zhan noticed his tone and looked at Xuan Lu to confirm if what he heard was actually true. He thought, “Could Zhuocheng have feelings for Meng Ziyi? Is that what Jie jie was trying to warn him about earlier?”</p><p>He decided that he needs to clear the air between them and said firmly, “You are right. There is nothing wrong with Meng Ziyi. I am just not into her. She is not my type.”</p><p>Hearing that Zhuocheng’s shoulders visibly relaxed.</p><p>“Then who is your type?” Yubin pressed on.</p><p>Zhuocheng sniggered at him and said, “I doubt if he would be interested in girls. Didn’t he vote for the love story of two men for the Manga?”</p><p>Yubin kicked him under the table, and put his arm around Xiao Zhan’s neck and said to Zhuocheng, “It is for the Manga. Why do you mix it up with real life? I haven’t seen Zhan Zhan ever being interested in any guys. I mean, he hangs out with me everyday. If he is not tempted by my charm, I doubt he could fall for anyone else.”</p><p>Everyone laughed at the joke, while Xiao Zhan also prayed that they won’t continue that conversation anymore tonight.</p><p>When he tried to think of an answer to Yubin’s question, he realized he himself didn't know what his type was. The more he thought about it, the only figure that appeared in his mind was Yibo.</p>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>No offense to any of the other characters, especially Meng Ziyi.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Zhan ge, I am serious. You have no reason to be afraid of how people will perceive you. You should worry about whether or not you are comfortable with me being the man of your dreams?”</p>
<p>“WHAT??” Xiao Zhan wasn’t sure if he heard it correctly. His face turned bright red, and he looked mortified.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
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</div><p>For the next few days, the office was bustling with the design team working diligently to get as many model sketches for their main characters as possible while the creative writers put together a few character profiles with short drabbles for their preliminary demo. </p>
<p>The day before the demo, the design team got together to narrow down their picks for the demo. Xiao Zhan was extra careful not to let the Manga side project he started at home influence his current work. Anytime he subconsciously sketched his characters that look similar to either Yibo or himself, the moment the realization hit him, he erased them with panic. But in the end, he couldn’t help but feel that his models are not as wholesome as he hoped them to be. All four members of the team brought their laptops to the conference room so they can project their models on the big screen. </p>
<p>Xiao Zhan went through his models first and was nervous to hear the feedback from the rest.</p>
<p>“A-Zhan, they look pretty awesome. I can’t even think of which ones we can eliminate for tomorrow.” Xuan Lu commented like the excited big sister she is.</p>
<p>“Really? Thank you Jiejie. For some reason, I am not really happy with any of my sketches. It is a bit depressing actually.” Xiao Zhan’s shoulders finally relaxed though he was still looking at them with apprehension.</p>
<p>“Would you stop being melodramatic? They are alright.” Zhuocheng snapped at him.</p>
<p>“Why do you snap at him?” Yubin smacked on his arm. “I think ZhanZhan got a point. The sketches look great, but something is missing when you visualize them as the Manga characters for the concepts we have gone through. They don’t seem to match with the character trait options we were discussing the other day.”</p>
<p>Xiao Zhan was glad Yubin could finally vocalize his own thoughts. “Ok, let's go through the rest of them as well.”</p>
<p>Yubin connected his own laptop to project on the screen. He started flipping through each of the sketches while providing a lively commentary animatedly.</p>
<p>“This dude here is super powerful, muscular, and can take down any monsters that come their way.” </p>
<p>“Will you stop your commentary?” Zhuocheng asked while rolling his eyes.</p>
<p>“Eh, your loss.” He continued with the rest of the models, still including key points in his commentary.</p>
<p>When he got to one of the sketches, Xiao Zhan’s jaw dropped. He stared at it for a good few seconds with an open mouth.</p>
<p>Yubin proudly declared, “This is my masterpiece. The alpha of our story. Mr. Cool Guy, who can keep his calm even while facing the deadliest monsters.”</p>
<p>Zhuocheng let out an abrupt giggle surprising the entire room including himself, but regained his composure quickly, “That seems pretty cool. And a very apt character description.”</p>
<p>“Hmm.. jokes aside, I do actually agree with it. It does suit the character pretty well. What do you think, A-Zhan?”</p>
<p>Xiao Zhan swallowed the knot forming in his throat. Yubin’s sketch looks very close to the sketch of Yibo he has at home. He doesn't know what to say. He is obviously biased that this would be a perfect model for their Manga, but what would Yibo think of it? Would he be ok with the Manga character made based on him? Would Xiao Zhan be ok having to draw the sketches of Yibo day in and day out, if this ends up being their final choice?</p>
<p>“A-Zhan?” Xuan Lu gently shook his arm.</p>
<p>“I am not sure.” his voice sounded hoarse and he immediately cleared his throat. “I think it’s pretty good, if our marketing manager doesn’t mind being a model for our Manga. I hope he won’t take offense even if he is not interested.”</p>
<p>“What’s there to take offense? If he doesn’t like it, we don’t have to use it.” </p>
<p>They went over Yubin’s models one more time and eliminated the ones they unanimously voted against and then moved on to Zhuocheng’s models.</p>
<p>Once they went through all the models and eliminated a few, Xuan Lu connected her laptop to project on the big monitor.</p>
<p>Xiao Zhan reached out to the thermos, to take a sip of his green tea while looking at the models fondly. He always liked his jiejie’s art of drawing. It always amazes him how she can make her models look tender and sometimes even vulnerable. They went through several models making a few comments here and there until finally landed on a model that made everyone in the room gasp audibly.</p>
<p>“This is my favorite one.” Xuan Lu said nervously. “A-Zhan, please hear me out before you reject it. This character portrays someone who can resolve the situations with some quick thinking and wit. His enemies always underestimate him at first, but he is extremely agile while fighting. His personality is of purest innocence and incorruptible. I think this model portrays those qualities really well.”</p>
<p>Yubin and Zhuocheng clapped their hands excitedly while looking at Xiao Zhan with an amused grin. It took a while for Xiao Zhan to snap out of his shock, “Jiejie, why do you have to use my face for that model?” he asked fretfully, his voice several octaves louder than usual. </p>
<p>“Hey, back off,” Zhuocheng said, trying to defend Lulu while still trying to suppress his amusement.</p>
<p>“If you notice carefully, it’s not exactly your face.” Yubin said trying to keep his face as straight as he can though failing miserably.</p>
<p>Xiao Zhan gave him an incredulous look.</p>
<p>“That model didn’t have a mole under the lip” Yubin finally burst out laughing.</p>
<p>“A-Zhan, I sincerely thought this model fits the character I had in mind really well. If you are not comfortable with it, I can remove it. But don’t you want to at least wait for what others have to say tomorrow? If others don’t think it’s a perfect fit, we won’t be using it anyway.”</p>
<p>Xiao Zhan is not angry at her, he can never be angry at his Jiejie. He knows she doesn’t do anything to make him uncomfortable. But he is not someone who likes to be in the limelight. He prefers lowkey. It feels awkward to submit his own profile as a character for the Manga. But he cares more for Lulu’s feelings than his own, so he didn’t have the heart to reject her wish. Finally he simply nodded to her without actually meeting her eyes and moved on to wrap up their meeting.</p>
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</div><p>By the time all three teams gathered in the conference room for the demo, the next day, Xiao Zhan completely forgot about having his own profile as a model and was excited to see everyone’s hard work coming together. </p>
<p>“Is everyone ready for the judgement day?” Yubin asked the group excitedly and met with a few giggles and a lot of eye rolls.</p>
<p>Once everyone settled, Xiao Zhan squirmed in his chair struggling to prevent himself from throwing quick glances at Yibo sitting right across him. Over the past few days, he has been too busy to notice much of what is going on outside of his team. Seeing him here in the closed, dimly lit space, he looks even more majestic than usual.</p>
<p>Once everyone settled, Haikuan turned his gaze to Cao Yuchen and Zhanjin Zhu to proceed with their character profiles first. Cao Yuchen got up from his seat and talked through different character profiles that they have come up with. Everyone agreed that their two main roles should have characteristics that complement each other and still make both of them interesting.</p>
<p>When Cao Yuchen presented the slide which has a character profile very similar to what Xuan Lu had explained the day before while showing the sketch that looks like Xiao Zhan, everyone in the design team turned to look at her in awe. Lulu kept staring at the slide with her lips slightly parted. It was obvious that they haven’t discussed or planned it.</p>
<p>Xiao Zhan suddenly started feeling anxious thinking about how Lulu had drawn him as a model for this character profile and hoped no one would be interested to go with it. </p>
<p>Once they went through Cao Yuchen’s presentation, Xiao Zhan got up to present his slides with the model sketches. When he reached the slide with Yibo’s model sketch, he could hear the loud gasps across the room. He tried to explain the character profile ideas behind the sketch while wiping the sweat off his forehead, but ended up stuttering badly that he had to let Yubin finish it up for him. He noticed everyone’s eyes on Yibo, and he too looked at him only to realize Yibo’s gaze is focussed on him, his face unreadable making his heart beat out of his chest.</p>
<p>For a few seconds that room was completely quiet and still. Haikuan finally broke the silence and said, “That’s an interesting idea. I can see that the character profile fits the model sketch perfectly. Let’s finish the rest of the presentation so that we can further discuss our options.”</p>
<p>Xiao Zhan was more than glad to move on to the next slide. Before his heart rate returned to normal, he ended up landing on the slide with his own model sketch. He closed his eyes tightly shut out of embarrassment, but had to turn around to face the room once giggles started erupting behind him.</p>
<p>This time, he wisened up and gestured for Lulu to explain the character profile. After she has eloquently and passionately explained, Cao Yuchen was the first to start clapping in  the room. “This model definitely fits that character profile.” Ziyi exclaimed fondly. Everyone around the room nodded their heads in agreement.</p>
<p>Xiao Zhan moved on to the next slide and finished the rest of the presentation as quickly as he could. For the next half an hour they deliberated on matching the character profiles with the model sketches and ended up choosing four final options and decided to have two pairs of characters, and come up with a mini plotline for character building for their pilot. To Xiao Zhan’s horror, his own profile got shortlisted along with Yibo’s.</p>
<p>Xuan Lu rallied for Xiao Zhan and Yibo’s profiles to be paired and was immediately supported by Zhuocheng, Yubin and Cao Yuchen. They decided Cao Yuchen to work with Xuan Lu and Xiao Zhan on this pairing, whereas Yubin and Zhuocheng to work with Ziyi on the second pairing for the pilot. Ziyi originally wanted to work with Xiao Zhan but lost her chance to an overbearing Cao Yuchen. Haikuan suggested Zanjin Zhu to work with both of them closely and oversee both the pilots.</p>
<p>Xiao Zhan realized over the next few days that working with Cao Yuchen wasn’t really easy, but somehow he is more receptive to Lulu, so he let her handle all the communications with him.</p>
<p>Yibo asked Ji Li and Guo Cheng to work with the pilot teams to prepare for the marketing plan and few sample materials. Yibo would oversee both the teams’ progress. They have decided to arrange for the pilot demos in two weeks after which they will decide the final option for the path forward.</p>
<p>Once they left the conference room, Haikuan asked Xiao Zhan and Yibo to join him for a short briefing in his office room. Once they are out of earshot from others, Haikuan said, “Since one of the two pairings have similarities to both of you, I want to make sure you both are ok with this. If not, we’ll remove your profiles from the list...”</p>
<p>“I have no issues.” Yibo said calmly even before Haikuan finished his sentence. Both Xiao Zhan and Haikuan looked at him with raised eyebrows. Yibo remained undeterred.</p>
<p>Haikuan continued, “As I was saying, if this pair becomes the final choice, we’ll disclose the full details of our marketing plans and if you both are still onboard with it, then you would need to sign a waiver to avoid any legal battles in future.”</p>
<p>“Sure.” Yibo readily agreed.</p>
<p>Xiao Zhan wasn’t sure why Yibo seemed so eager to have his profile in the Manga, but considering the love angle in the storyline they were planning, he did feel a little uncomfortable thinking about the sketches he had at home. It is one thing to draw them in the privacy of his home, but since he knew his own thoughts towards Yibo are not entirely professional or innocent, he wasn’t entirely sure how to go about this.</p>
<p>Understanding his hesitation, Haikuan put his hand on Xiao Zhan’s shoulder, “It’s understandable if you want your profile to be removed. But I’d recommend you give it a chance to see how the pilot goes.”</p>
<p>Xiao Zhan thought since it’s Lulu’s idea, he owed it to her to give this a chance for her to expand her favorite concept for everyone to see. He can worry about it once the pilot is over. “It’s alright. The model looks similar to me, it doesn’t mean it’s my own storyline. If the team choses go with it, I have no issues.” Xiao Zhan confirmed and Yibo silently released the breath he was holding.</p>
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</div><p>“A-Zhan, it would look really authentic. Why are you against it?” Lulu sounded exasperated.</p>
<p>“I think Lulu is right.” Cao Yuchen remarked with his puppy eyes still staring at Lulu expectantly.</p>
<p>Xiao Zhan rolled his eyes, ““Jiejie, please.”</p>
<p>“Do you guys need any help?” everyone startled when a deep voice spoke right behind them.</p>
<p>Once Xual Lu explained their disagreement, Yibo looked at the drawings on Xiao Zhan’s screen.</p>
<p>Xiao Zhan felt helpless. Why does Jiejie insist on this? They never really disagreed on anything in the past.</p>
<p>“I think you are right.” Yibo said to Lulu quietly. Xiao Zhan felt his face getting warmer by the second. His breath caught in his throat when a hand reached over to hold his own. He felt Yibo’s cheek close to his own making the air conditioned room extremely hot and the hair on his hand and back of the neck raised. </p>
<p>Yibo’s big palm completely covered Xiao Zhan’s relatively small hand while controlling the digital pen in his hand.</p>
<p>Once Yibo is done with making the change to the drawing on the screen, he turned his head slightly and spoke softly in Xiao Zhan’s ear, “Now that seems better” and was gone the next moment.</p>
<p>Xiao Zhan blinked several times to clear his dazed head and felt the cold air gush at him now that the source of heat is gone. The drawing on the screen now is a proud owner of a mole under the lip. He bit his lower lip and turned to face Lulu. She gave him an apologetic smile and gently stroked his arm. </p>
<p>Xiao Zhan was hoping not to include the mole on the Manga models, but now this looks exactly like the drawings he had at home.</p>
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</div><p>They worked almost around the clock for the next two weeks to get the pilots ready for their next big demo. On the day of the demo, a not so pleasant surprise was waiting for them. </p>
<p>Haikuan kept the teams waiting even after everyone settled in the conference room, and when Huang Ziteng, the boss of Gusu Lan Ltd finally entered the room, most of the people who already knew of Ziteng, shuddered slightly.</p>
<p>Before the demo started, Haikuan went around the conference room table introducing the teams. Ziteng has cordially greeted everyone. </p>
<p>After that Yubin and Ziyi gave the demo for their pilot. It went smoothly and Xiao Zhan could tell which story plot points sprouted from Yubin’s golden ideas. Yubin is obsessed with WWE, so his characterizations usually involve overly masculine characters doing over the top feats. </p>
<p>When it was their turn to demo, Xuan Lu and Cao Yucheng walked over to the monitor to present. Xiao Zhan had to beg Lulu beforehand to do the presentation as he was still feeling pretty self-conscious about having Yibo and his own character in the Manga and he didn’t trust himself not to sweat and stutter.</p>
<p>That definitely proved to be the best thing, because when Xuan Lu has expressed the intricate character traits of both of their main leads, it was the most passionate he ever heard her speak.</p>
<p>“Our first main character is Wei Ying. He is a highly energetic soul with a mischievous personality. He doesn’t care about what people think about his actions, as long as he truly believes that it is for the good of the people, no one can stop him. He is the personification of purity at heart.”</p>
<p>“Our second main character is Lan Zhan. He is the most respectable and straightforward person. He is a man of very few words. He doesn’t care about fame and can’t be compromised when it comes to helping the commonfolk. Due to his aloofness, for many people he seems unapproachable. When it comes to fighting the evil, he doesn’t hesitate to put his own life on the line.”</p>
<p>“When both of our characters meet for the first time, Wei Ying realizes that Lan Zhan is none other than the mysterious man he had ambiguous dreams about countless times before and tries extra hard to be nonchalant around him, but fails miserably only to make a fool of himself each time.” </p>
<p>“For the first time in his life, Wei Ying feels at a loss for words whenever he is around Lan Zhan and stumbles upon himself to hide that fact. Whereas Lan Zhan finds himself talking a lot more than usual when he was around Wei Ying. He becomes a totally different person around Wei Ying, being mischievous, soon realizes he is head over heels in love with him and is determined to make Wei Ying fall in love with him not realizing the other is already neck deep in love but wouldn’t admit it.”</p>
<p>“This story has the action elements where our two incorruptible, untamed heroes fight against the evil, and it has the romance that slowly brews between them, comic elements where their personalities totally change when they are around each other, while one is determined to make the other fall in love with him, the other, not knowing his intentions, tries to look unaffected.”</p>
<p>“This is our storyline for the Manga. Here are some of the scenes.”</p>
<p>Throughout Lulu’s presentation, Xiao Zhan realized that Yibo kept stealing glances at him and noticed that his ears are bright red. He himself felt uncomfortably hot in this air conditioned room, and couldn’t help but fanning himself with a notebook.</p>
<p>The room instantly filled with loud clapping. Haikuan gestured to them to quiet down, and turned to look at Huang Ziteng for his feedback. Ziteng looked pretty excited after the first presentation was done, but now he seemed to be deep in thought with a frown on his face. </p>
<p>Ziteng looked at Yibo thoughtfully and met with an icy glare. He then casted a quick glance at Xiao Zhan and turned to Haikuan. </p>
<p>“Let’s see which option the team liked the most.” Haikuan nodded his head, and turned to the group.</p>
<p>“I will go first.” Ziyi spoke up first with her hand raised into the air barely able to contain her excitement. “Oh my God, Oh my God, I so love Wei Ying!” She burst into silly giggles.</p>
<p>“Are you sure it is Wei Ying that you love?” Yubin asked her cheekily with a raised eyebrow. </p>
<p>More than one pair of eyes shot at Yubin angrily while Ziyi just giggled.</p>
<p>Xuan Lu cleared her throat to divert the attention, “I think there is more scope for the character and plot development in our storyline.”</p>
<p>Haikuan nodded in agreement and turned to see what Ziteng had to say but after seeing his heated gaze on Xiao Zhan he announced to the group that they will further discuss this matter in private before finalizing the path forward. Once the group had cleared the conference room, Xiao Zhan returned to his desk.</p>
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</div><p>“What do you think is going on there?” Yubin asked him curiously pointing towards the conference room with his head.</p>
<p>There seemed to be some heated discussion going on in the conference room between Ziteng and Haikuan. Or more specifically Ziteng seems to be chewing Haikuan’s ear.</p>
<p>Ji Li approached them from behind. “Don’t worry about them. If there is anyone that can handle the Big Tiger, that would be Haikuan ge”</p>
<p>Xiao Zhan continued to stare at the scene curiously. He noticed that though Ziteng seemed agitated, Haikuan still talked to him with a gentle smile on his face. After they exchanged a few more words, Ziteng suddenly turned his head towards Xiao Zhan, glaring at him as if he was going to burn a hole through him. Xiao Zhan was surprised by the sudden attention and quickly dropped into his seat.</p>
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</div><p>Xiao Zhan couldn’t get the way Ziteng looked at him out of his mind for the rest of that day. With his mind still analyzing and re-analyzing the intent behind that look, he was in the washroom, washing his hands in the sink. He stared at his reflection in the mirror and tilted his head to a side slightly as if he was having an inner-monologue, too preoccupied to notice the bathroom door being opened and shut.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hard to look away from that face, huh?” a deep voice resonated from the room.</p>
<p>Perturbed by the sudden presence, Xiao Zhan’s hands jolted, involuntarily seeking the support of the still running faucet and ended up splashing water onto his clothes.<br/>
Yibo quickly stepped forward to turn off the faucet, “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you like that.” he said, not trying to hide his amusement.</p>
<p>“No, no, no, I am sorry. I was a little distracted.” Xiao Zhan muttered, turning around to face Yibo and realizing too late how close Yibo was standing. He gulped and tried to look like he wasn’t affected.</p>
<p>“I understand. That face can be very distracting.” he said nonchalantly with a tiny smirk on his face.</p>
<p>“Ahh?” Xiao Zhan looked confused. Did Yibo really just said, that his face was distracting? Is it the way he usually talks? His team members always complain that he is very stiff and gruff and barely talks outside of work. His demeanor seems totally different here. Is he.. flirting?</p>
<p>Before Xiao Zhan could make sense of Yibo’s intention behind those words, Yibo pulled down tissues from the dispenser and started wiping Xiao Zhan’s now wet face and clothes.</p>
<p>If Yibo’s proximity bothered him earlier, Yibo’s hands on his body made him unsettled. He tried to step back but realized that the back of his thighs are already pressed against the sink and there is no more room behind him. He rested his palms behind him on the vanity top and stumbled a bit when his hand slipped off it, but straightened himself and leaned back awkwardly to create some space between them so he could resume his breathing.</p>
<p>But before he could take a deep breath, Yibo leaned forward placing his hands also on the vanity on either side of Xiao Zhan’s body effectively trapping him where he was. </p>
<p>“Are you always this clumsy, Zhan ge?”, Xiao Zhan’s eyes widened, not only because of the use of the endearment that nobody has ever used before, but also because it is what he used on the sketches at home when the man from his dreams addressed him.</p>
<p>Xiao Zhan’s mouth went dry and he felt slightly dizzy, but before he could lose his footing and embarrass himself in front of Yibo again, he felt two arms tightly holding his shoulders to keep him upright.</p>
<p>To Xiao Zhan’s relief, soon after, Yibo let go of his hands and stepped away from him, but not before Xiao Zhan noticed a flicker of something pass across his face.</p>
<p>“I want to have a quick word with you, if you have a moment.” Yibo’s tone is back to businesslike.</p>
<p>“Su.. re.” Xiao Zhan said hesitantly, surprised by the sudden change in the tone and also not knowing if Yibo meant to talk here in the washroom or outside. His doubts are cleared shortly.</p>
<p>“Are you really comfortable with your profile portrayed as a manga character?”</p>
<p>Xiao Zhan finally relaxed and took a deep breath. “Yea, It’s alright. What’s there to be not comfortable with?” he asked rhetorically with a chuckle.</p>
<p>Yibo looked at him seriously and said, “Haikuan ge is going to talk to you sometime soon. He will fill you in on the full scope of what they are planning to do for this Manga. Make sure you fully understand what they are asking for before you make a decision on whether or not you want to go with this.” He gave a quick nod before leaving the washroom.</p>
<p>Xiao Zhan was uneasy about what Yibo was referring to. He was talking all cryptic, making Xiao Zhan more anxious to know what it was about. He thought he would lose his sleep over this, but luckily he got his answers before the end of the day.</p>
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</div><p>“I want to talk to you about what is to be expected before we can make a final decision about our Manga choice.” </p>
<p>Couple of hours after he had his encounter with Yibo, Xiao Zhan was sitting in the only small office room they have, with Haikuan on the other side of the desk and Yibo on this side, sitting next to him. </p>
<p>Haikuan started with pleasantries and talked for a while about how impressed he was with the way teams worked together to kickstart this venture. Xiao Zhan wondered what his role in all of this was and anxiously waited for Haikuan to get to the point.</p>
<p>“This manga being the first brand new venture after the acquisition, there are a lot of eyes closely watching the progress of this venture. It is pretty clear from our meeting earlier that most of the team prefers to go with your concept for the manga.” Haikuan paused for a few seconds, and then continued with the meat of the discussion. “As per the original plan we had for marketing, we were to hire models to have photoshoots and film small promotional plays if this venture gains enough popularity. With this concept, we may rope you two into some of our promotional material. We need your written approval of course, before we even get started with this venture.” </p>
<p>Haikuan got up from his chair, slowly walked to the other side of the table closer to where Xiao Zhan was sitting. “Take your time to think it through and let me know if both of you are onboard. I will give you guys sometime.” and he left the room leaving Xiao Zhan with Yibo in the small office room.</p>
<p>For some reason, having Yibo there didn’t cause any jitters that Xiao Zhan usually gets around him. He has something bigger on his mind. Would he be comfortable having his face on display? Would people even like his face? What if it backfires due to him?</p>
<p>“What do you think Zhan ge?” Yibo asked in a soft voice. It is always a pleasant surprise when Yibo speaks so softly. He likes it even more the way he addressed him. He is secretly glad that Yibo addressing him as Zhan ge wasn’t a one off thing. At that moment, the tender look on Yibo’s face made him feel comfortable sharing his fears with him. After all, they both are in the same predicament.</p>
<p>Xiao Zhan let out a deep sigh, “I am not a model. Aren’t they taking a risk adding me to the promotional content?”</p>
<p>“I am not a model either, ge”</p>
<p>Xiao Zhan’s heart sank into his stomach for a second. He quickly recovered, “You are no less than a model, Bo ge.” Two can play at this game. He was nervous if Yibo would get angry, since he is younger than himself, but decided to push his luck anyway.</p>
<p>Yibo's mouth quirked, “You may be right though. They are taking a risk adding your face for marketing.”</p>
<p>Though Xiao Zhan was concerned about this, hearing it from Yibo’s mouth hurt him more for some reason.</p>
<p>“Did you forget what I said in the washroom earlier? Your face is too distracting. Who would read the manga if your face is on the cover?”</p>
<p>Xiao Zhan’s eyebrow shot up. He is both amused and embarrassed. “That’s enough, Bo ge! Spare me the embarrassment.”</p>
<p>“Zhan ge, I am serious. You have no reason to be afraid of how people will perceive you. You should worry about whether or not you are comfortable with me being the man of your dreams?”</p>
<p>“WHAT??” Xiao Zhan wasn’t sure if he heard it correctly. His face turned bright red, and he looked mortified.</p>
<p>“In the Manga, Zhan ge” Yibo decided not to tease the man next to him any further. There will be plenty of time for it later. “Did you already forget your own concept?”</p>
<p>“It’s Lulu’s concept, not mine. And, no! I didn’t forget.” his heart beating close to its limit and he felt like he just ran a marathon. He knows he is overreacting. Yibo is just referring to the Manga. He has no way of knowing about the skeletons in his closet.</p>
<p>“So, are you comfortable or not?”</p>
<p>Xiao Zhan debated with himself whether or not he should go with it. He doesn’t see why it has to be such a big deal. Moreover Haikuan indirectly warned that more people from the upper management are closely paying attention to this venture. He doesn’t want to get into their radar.  The only thing that’s making him think twice was how his entire being reacts, whenever he is near Yibo and his not so pure thoughts about him. But if Yibo could become his friend, he may get over the awkwardness due to what he had thought of him or dreamt of him even before he met him. This is definitely a great opportunity to get to know him better and finally feel more comfortable around him. After all, they are co-workers, he can’t keep feeling awkward everytime Yibo approaches him. He took a deep breath and smiled at Yibo, having made up his mind.</p>
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